Ex of suspect in 2019 gas station murder testifies against former partner
COLUMBUS, Ga. () — The trial for the suspect in a 2019 murder which happened at a local gas station has continued into its third day. Daequavian Solomon is facing life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.
Solomon's former partner Laquoia Mason testified that she identified Solomon as the suspect based on surveillance video of the incident released by the Columbus Police Department.
But 2019 video from when Solomon went to the police department to give a statement, shows him claiming he was under the influence of drugs 'heavy' and at home during the time of the murder.
Mason's identification of Solomon came down to the suspect's clothes and gait in the surveillance video:
She asserted the suspect's too-short sweat pants were hers and that Solomon would wear them around their shared apartment; he wore the red striped socks often; the camouflage hoodie was a gift she remembered Solomon receiving; he used to wear the suspect's 'Scream' mask and goggles to play with her son.
Having known the accused for more than a decade prior to the incident, Mason said she also recognized the suspect's 'slew-footed' walk as Solomon's.
Defense Attorney William Kendrick took issue with those identifiers during his cross-examination, grilling Mason intensely on how she knew for certain the suspect was Solomon.
'You don't know anything? You just feel [that it was Solomon],' Kendrick asked Mason.
'Yes,' Mason answered, having already doubled-down on her ability to recognize Solomon through the suspect's clothes and gait.
According to Mason's testimony, Solomon also had a history of violence toward her. She said he had threatened her with a gun over a money dispute three weeks before the Circle K incident. They were not living together at the time of the murder.
Police officers from the Crime Scene Investigation Division said they had found bullet casings and fragments at the scene of the murder. They matched casings and fragments found outside unit 14A at the Hunter Run apartment complex across the street.
Mason testified she paid for that unit and lived there with Solomon and her children. The pair share a seven-year-old daughter.
The trial, which is being overseen by Superior Court Judge Art Smith, is set to continue Thursday morning.
After five and a half years, man accused of 2019 Circle K murder goes to trial
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